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Boxer's Story
Boxer's Story, '''originally titled '''Rocky and later repackaged by the publisher as Arcade Boxing'http://www.mdickie.com/hist_2002.htm "... it was what ''Idigicon wanted (and paid for) so I let them run with it. They have since changed its name to the rather soulless '''Arcade Boxing." ,' '''is a 3D fighting game developed by MDickie and published by Idigicon Ltd. Originally based on the Rocky films, all references to Rocky had to be removed due to copyright issues.http://www.mdickie.com/prev_bstory.htm "Naturally, the publishing process demanded that the basic game be refined as much as possible - not least to replace the copyright-infringing ''Rocky references. Hence the game has been repackaged as "Boxer's Story", a 3D boxing simulator with a fictitious setting." Many of the concepts of this game were implemented in MDickie's second boxing game, Reach. NOTE: Most of the information on this page that is not from MDickie.com is from the instruction manual & game files for the early version of the game (Rocky). Because of this problem, some info or images may be outdated/inaccurate. See Compatibility Issues as to the reason for this. Development MDickie developed the first version of the game, then-titled Rocky, on Blitz engine during the holidays of 2001 over the span of 2 weeks.http://www.mdickie.com/hist_2002.htm "The Christmas break can always be relied on to get some interesting work done ... by the following January a humble tribute to the Rocky ''movies was upon us." It got the attention of a small publishing company, Idigicon, who offered to publish the game. MDickie spent the year of 2002 refining the game before release.http://www.mdickie.com/hist_2002.htm "They offered to publish the game and, naturally, I seized that opportunity. The game would spend the next few months getting into shape for the main event" The graphics and music of Rocky were removed and replaced for Boxer's Story. A new soundtrack was composed by Andrew Wilson.http://www.mdickie.com/prev_bstory.htm "... an intricate part of this new game's identity is the exclusive music - skillfully composed by fellow student, Andrew Wilson." A character editor was also added. It appears that the game was rushed to release, as according to MDickie, the game wasn't refined enough to be published, but acknowledged that it was still a significant improvement over the original version of the game: "The game still wasn't "publishing" material in my view. However, it was what ''Idigicon wanted (and paid for) so I let them run with it ... Fortunately, the end result was a distinct improvement on the original game."http://www.mdickie.com/hist_2002.htm The game was released in December 2002 for £9.99http://www.mdickie.com/prev_bstory.htm "The boxed full game is available to buy now for just £9.99 (or your currency's equivalent)." About $13 USD. but is now available for free via MDickie.com. Gameplay Gameplay in Boxer's Story is simplistic compared to MDickie's other boxing title, Reach. Matches are an infinite number of 3-minute rounds, and only end when you either knock out the other fighter, or if you knock them down three times in a singular round. Controls Fighting Controls General Controls * Indicates available in Boxer's Fantasy only Gamepad Controls The controls are very limited with a gamepad. It is highly recommended to be play the game with a keyboard + mouse. Game Modes * Boxer's Story (Campaign): The player takes control of Adam Bradbury and plays through his career. Some (but not all) matches must be won to further advance the plot. Referred to in the instruction manual as Movie Mode. * Boxer's Fantasy (Fantasy/Free Mode): There are no story restrictions. The player can use any of the 16-30* characters and compete for the title belt. Playable Characters * Indicates the character returned in Reach ** Indicates the character returned in Reach as a manager * Adam Bradbury* * Mama Pearl* * Beaumont Sanders* * Trent Nixon * Baby Bull* * Mat Dickie** * Lynx * Hayabusa * Fox Connolly* * Brock Slater * Steve Whats * Quincy Jackson * Drew Ramsey * Kanu * Hunter * Hugh McIntyre** Gameplay Features Statistics In Boxer's Story, every fighter has three statistics: * Strength, how much damage they inflict. * Endurance, how much damage they can take. * Agility, how fast they're able to move. These stats are rated with a 1-to-5 star system. Fighters can temporarily get 5-stars on all stats by filling up their adrenaline meter (yellow bar), which activates their Special State, making knockdowns significantly easier. These three statistics are present in both versions of the game (Rocky'' and Boxer's Story) with no changes inbetween.https://youtu.be/vu0nPBPrXyg?t=22s Create-A-Boxer (Boxer's Editor) ] While the game was being refined, one of the new features that was added was the ability to change the appearances of fighters. This extensive editor allows the user to edit existing fighters or create up to 14 new ones, bringing the total of maximum fighters to 30.http://www.mdickie.com/prev_bstory.htm "This comprehensive editor allows you to alter the existing boxers or create up to 14 new ones - for a total roster of 30!" There are 19 body seperate body parts that can be changed and around 100 decals that can be added to a character. The colors of each body part can also be changed using QWEASD keys.http://www.mdickie.com/prev_bstory.htm "You get to choose absolutely everything that makes up the boxer - from the texturing of the 19 separate body parts through to the body shape, animations, name, and statistics. There are some 100 images to apply to your creation, and you can even adjust the colour scheme..." This is one of the first, if not ''the ''first 3D MDickie game to allow fully customizable characters. Miracles Miracles are random events that may occur during a match. This is to make the game more unpredictable.http://www.mdickie.com/prev_bstory.htm "Even a number-crunching Technical ''sic ''bout isn't safe from the wonder of miracles ... which make even the most one-sided bout a little unpredictable." Some of the possible miracles include: * Punches that knock down opponents with a lot of health * "Unexpected comebacks," where the fight seems one-sided, but the other fighter pulls through * A recreation of the famous double knockout scene in Rocky II Reception Despite reviews being generally positive at release, many people view the game retrospectively in a negative light. Some criticisms are overly detailed performance breakdowns!!!'CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS'!!! '''https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu0nPBPrXyg&lc=z13nundpcnadyd40k23kwffxumqdhtisi' and the slow countdown.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu0nPBPrXyg&lc=z12qtpxwoqqds3a2c23qdx0gbrqsufyew Other factors that may turn off players may be that the graphics are very outdated. The game is often considered to be so bad that it's good. Compatibility Issues On Windows 10 64-bit (and most likely other versions), Rocky will load properly, but attempting to go past the main menu will cause the game to crash and give an "illegal memory address" error. Boxer's Story, on the other hand, simply will not install. The installer will run and complete, but the files will not actually be on the computer. Because of this, it's impossible to even view the game files of Boxer's Story, despite that you can look through the game files of Rocky. It is unknown why this happens - however, it is highly unlikely that this will ever be fixed, due to the game being over 15 years old as well as MDickie's current focus on mobile games. References